Hello all. This semester I am doing a student research project with these guys (if it ever stops snowing). Our ideas for an experiment are still hazy and I wanted to run them by you for some insight. So far, we have thrown out some ideas, but I would like to test adult density as it pertains to distance from roads. It may not be a good test because A. maculatum will breed in roadside ditches and I have not been out to our study site to pick out locales. Another idea was recording male body size for those we find in courtship and those not. And still, how accurate would a population estimate be for these guys? Which method of estimation would be sound? It would only account for the breeding population, but if I could do that, I would like to record number of DOR individuals, see if a significant proportion of adults are killed. I will be getting IACUC permission and all that jazz. Any other ideas would be great. Maybe some other factors of our montane environment would provide something interesting and testable...
-----
-Bradley
Reptile & Amphibian Forums
Welcome to kingsnake.com's message board system. Here you may share and discuss information with others about your favorite reptile and amphibian related topics such as care and feeding, caging requirements, permits and licenses, and more. Launched in 1997, the kingsnake.com message board system is one of the oldest and largest systems on the internet.
Ambystoma maculatum in the Souther Apps
bskinner88
Feb 22, 2010 10:30 PM
Replies (1)
jhnscrg
Feb 24, 2010 06:58 PM
I'd love to help, but I never even saw a wild one the entire time I lived in that area. I even kept one as a pet, but I had to buy her.
They are suprisingly elusive. I'm sure there were hundreds near my feet sometimes, but they live up to the Mole Salamander family name, live mostly underground.
Matthew
